Let me Go
by Airanke
Summary: Hidan is confirmed disabled by Zetsu. Konan hadn't thought the news would affect her so much. HidaKona one-sided; three-shot.
1. Chapter 1

Okay. This is my newest story. It's HidaKona one-sided, with some PeinKona at the end. Will be three chapters long with a sequel that is... dunno' how long. I already have everything planned out though, so I'm gonna' try and finish this asap. Finally and MLMD should be updating too, and I'm getting around to Innocence's sequel. Really, I am. As well as Agency. And a bunch of other HidaKona fics. And VAMP. Oh my. *faints***  


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**Chapter 1: I'll always be with you**

The group of them were waiting for Zetsu to return: Itachi, Kisame, Pein, Konan, Deidara and Tobi. The plant spy had already confirmed that Kakuzu was dead and had been taken to Konoha.

"I believe that _they are going to study him_," Zetsu had commented before Pein sent him off to search for any trace of the immortal, Hidan. Now Konan was growing worried; Zetsu had been gone for four hours already.

"Do you think he's alright?" Konan asked the men around her. Kisame lifted his head from it's slump. The rest looked to be thinking about an answer when Tobi piped up, "Zetsu-san will be all right, Konan-san. Tobi knows he'll come back."

The words were reassuring so Konan relaxed. Pein stood and stalked around the base, glaring out the window into the misty skies of the Rain village. He leaned against a window ledge, "first Sasori now Kakuzu... if Hidan's gone as well, that will cause some problems."

Konan glanced at him at the mention of Hidan also being gone. Her heart jumped, just like when Yahiko had taken the kunai in Nagato's hand and impaled himself with it, to save her life. She had always known that Yahiko loved her.

_'There is no doubt that I love him. I miss you, Yahiko_,' she thought sadly, staring at the body that was Nagato's favorite to use – the most powerful one – the God Realm, Yahiko. Konan shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts, good and bad. She did not want to remember Yahiko now.

"... we've already lost two members, officially," Pein commented, glancing back at the remaining Akatsuki, "I hope that there is at least some trace of Hidan left. All that we have from Kakuzu are a few strands of thread, and from Sasori we have his left-over puppets."

"Could you just not talk about Sasori, yeah?" Deidara snapped suddenly, glaring at the leader. Pein gazed calmly back. Konan knew that he had been expecting Deidara to react to the mention of Sasori from the start. The poor boy was still mourning the loss, Konan knew. Deidara had grown attached to Sasori – Konan had thought it quite cute. The two of them bickered as much as friends would and now...

Now poor Deidara had to deal with that wretch, Tobi, who annoyed the blonde to no end. Sometimes he even got on Konan's nerves.

She giggled silently. Though she had only caught a glimpse of Hidan from afar – or seen him as a hologram – she wondered what it would have been like if Kakuzu had been Deidara's partner and Tobi had been Hidan's. She was tempted to laugh at the mere thought.

_'Deidara and Kakuzu-san would have worked nicely together, I think. Both of them are long range – mostly – and Deidara would be able to easily stay out of Kakuzu's way, so he wouldn't get killed. He'd just have to watch Kakuzu's temper and killer instinct. However, Tobi and Hidan,'_ her mind laughed sporadically, _'Hidan would never stop trying to kill Tobi. Of course, I don't want to be partnered with him either... too childish. No wonder Deidara doesn't like him. Kisame is probably the only one that can stand the man.'_

She settled against the couch and glanced at Itachi. The young Uchiha was looking sicker than ever and she whispered, "I suppose we are going to lose more members soon, Pein-sama?"

Pein turned, stared at her and then followed her gaze to Itachi. Itachi smiled briefly, "that all depends, Konan-san," he said with his full politeness. She sighed lightly and looked away, _'depends on what?'_ she wanted to ask, but decided it was none of her business.

After a few moments of silence her thoughts drifted back to Hidan. She thought about all the things she had seen him do from afar: the rituals, the bickering with Kakuzu and the training. One time she had seen him just sitting there, still as a rock, some pigeons resting on the ground around him or on his shoulders preening. That was the closest she had ever gotten to him, and the only time he had really seen her.

That day Pein had decided to stop the rain, because Konan wanted to fly. He let her flutter about as paper, sailing freely on the wind.

"_You have two hours,"_ he had told her. She'd nodded and flown away.

_'It was strange, seeing Hidan like that. Usually he was laughing like a psycho-path or stabbing himself in the chest and getting blood everywhere. Or he was in an uproar with Kakuzu before they started throwing sharp objects at each other. But to see him so calm,'_ she rubbed her fingers together absentmindedly, remembering the feel of the beads between her fingers. His rosary, cold, hard steel, warmed slightly from resting against his chest.

Her brows furrowed in thought and Kisame glanced at her before he closed his eyes. Itachi gazed up at the older man and smiled briefly again. Deidara was tolerating Tobi to her right and Pein had turned back to the window to stare out into the rain.

Konan was surprised that Hidan had let her touch his rosary. Perhaps it was because he was in an almost hypnotized state, because he had just sat there calmly and stared up at her through his eyelashes. Until Kakuzu had come – and by then she had walked some distance from him – Hidan had been perfectly tranquil. Not a word had left his mouth during their silent exchange. Konan shifted in her seat and leaned against Deidara which made Tobi stop bothering him and caused color to rise to the blonde's cheeks. Kisame chuckled softly.

_'Why was he being so quiet? Was he afraid he would frighten me away if he did? Perhaps I was the first woman to ever approach him without blushing and stuttering?'_ she linked this to how Kisame, Kakuzu and Zetsu had reacted when she had spoken with them like they were normal people. Kisame had been the most affected by it; Konan knew this was because to most women, he looked like a monstrosity. Konan had seen summons that looked ten thousand times worse, and so to her Kisame looked fine, even attractive.

Zetsu had responded to her approaching him the first time by snapping his plant part shut. She had stood there for a minute before knocking on the huge leaves; Zetsu had opened up then, and they had a short conversation before Konan had to depart to tend to Nagato.

It had been the same with Kakuzu but he had recovered from the shock a little more quickly. Of course, whenever Konan had seen him he was alone or with anyone but Hidan. In fact, whenever she had seen Hidan and Kakuzu in the same room they were arguing back and forth – and that was always from a distance.

_'My, they had never gotten along very well, now that I think about it. Pein only put Hidan with Kakuzu because Hidan was immortal and we would stop loosing members to Kakuzu's impulses. That and Kakuzu's techniques wouldn't kill him. Without Hidan, I suppose, Kakuzu wouldn't be able to do a thing really.'_

She had never thought about it that way. Her eyes drifted back to Pein and she found that he was staring at her. She understood why, of course: she was leaning against Deidara and making him blush. The boy was young. She didn't blame him for acting so much like a boy his age.

She sighed though and straightened, and Pein relaxed. Deidara's face fell as Tobi returned to bothering him.

"'Aight, now you're getting on _my_ nerves," Kisame expressed, standing. In two strides he was in front of Tobi and had the man flung over his shoulder. Tobi started screeching, "SEEEEEMMMMPPPPAAAIIII!!!"

Deidara easily ignored him and told Kisame, "please, go lock him in a room or something, yeah?"

"Will do," he started walking away and Itachi got up, "Itachi-san, you stay here."

The Uchiha stared after Kisame for a moment and then sat back down. Konan's thoughts returned to Hidan. She still couldn't get over the calmness.

_'Calm, calm, so calm. The pigeons on his shoulders were so comfortable there and I nearly made them all fly away...'_ she recalled his expression when she had morphed into a human from the paper fluttering around him. He'd looked shocked, his amethyst eyes wider than normal and his lips parted. He had not been expecting that. She remembered tilting her head at him and listening to him say in his deep voice, "Konan, right?"

At the time the fact that he knew her name had surprised her, but as she thought about it now, her name had definitely floated around the base. Of course she'd responded with a polite Hidan-san at which he snorted and muttered "just call me Hidan, seriously".

Those were the only words they had really spoken to each other; the rest of their conversation was had through body language and gazes. She rubbed her fingers together again, and caught Deidara staring. She patted him on the head and he whined as Kisame walked back in.

"He'll probably escape within the next hour, you know," he informed Deidara as he sat back down next to Itachi. Deidara was about to retort when Pein suddenly walked swiftly by.

"He's back."

The four members shared a look before getting up and following their leader. Kisame laughed when Tobi came barreling down the hall screaming about tight doors and Deidara-sempai. Deidara promptly thumped him on the head, called him an idiot and proceeded more quickly down the hall. Konan's heart was beating just a tad more quickly. If Hidan was with Zetsu...

However, Pein stopped mid-stride and clenched his fists when Zetsu swayed toward them, an almost sad expression dominating his features. Konan too stopped, and the other Akatsuki members stood around her and Pein.

Zetsu held out Hidan's rosary, "this was all I could find after searching for five hours. _Found it near the place where he and Kakuzu were confronted by Konoha shinobi the first time_."

Pein reached out to take the rosary but retracted his hand when Zetsu flinched.

"What is it, Zetsu?"

"I only have _two voices, right?_"

"Yes."

"... I hear three."

Konan felt an urge to move forward and so she did, her hand coming up and snatching the rosary from Zetsu's hand. She wrapped her dainty fingers around the beads, and blinked slowly. It felt like the rosary belonged in her hand.

"Is the third voice gone now, Zetsu-san?" she asked, looking up at him. Both he and Pein were staring at her in shock until Zetsu replied cautiously, "yes."

Konan looked down at the rosary with narrowed eyes, _'could he have heard Hidan's voice? How is that even possible?'_

"So, Zetsu," to Konan it seemed like Pein was speaking with a purpose, "Hidan is disabled, isn't he?"

"Yes. I discovered that _he is buried in a hole_ in the Nara forests outside Konoha. I couldn't get past the deer, though I'm sure he's still alive."

"You tried to get past them?"

Konan studied the rosary in her hand, trying to ignore the conversation, "well, of course. _I knew Hidan was still alive, _I could hear him breathing when I was _underground_," he scowled for a moment because his white side wouldn't stop interrupting, then continued, "I couldn't leave without trying to dig him out. I had to flee when the deer alerted Konoha shinobi."

"Hn," Pein turned sharply and walked away; Konan's hand tightened around the rosary.

_'Sometimes,'_ she glared at Pein's back, _'sometimes he can be a bastard.'_

–

"Ah, Konan-san."

Konan turned to face Kisame, rosary still in her hands, "yes, Kisame-san?"

He gave her a look, "I thought I told you to drop the 'san' business."

"I will when you do," she countered, her lips twitching up in a smile. Kisame twitched and then hung his head in defeat.

"Why did you take Hidan's rosary? I'm just curious, I mean you kind of pissed Pein-sama off."

"Yes, I realize that I did," she replied to his observation dryly, "however, I don't quite know why I took Hidan's rosary. It feels right, here in my hands," she admitted, staring at the silver beads.

Kisame quirked an eyebrow at her, "whatever suits your fancy, Konan... maybe you should put it on."

Konan jerked her head up, "what?"

"I said maybe you should put it on. And I also called you Konan – feels odd to say that without 'san' – so now you have to call me Kisame. But anyway, put it on," and then Kisame poofed away. Konan blinked after him, and stared down at the rosary that she now held clenched between her two hands. She fled to her room, where she could be alone with her thoughts. Pein would also leave her alone if she was in her room.

Konan stood in front of the full-length mirror, her hands shaking with anticipation. She wondered what was going to happen when she put the rosary over her head to let it hang around her neck.

As soon as the circle with it's upside-down triangle touched the swell of her breast, she heard a voice from all around her say, "Konan."

Her mouth hung opened and trembled, "w-who -?"

"Konan-chan," the ghost of a hand touched her neck. Her shinobi training held her fast, but on the inside she was screaming her head off. In the mirror she watched as he appeared out of the mysterious mist that had collected around her.

"It can't be..." her lips formed other words but she could not speak.

Because Hidan was standing right next to her, a specter that haunts people. He pawed her neck gently and said, "Konan-chan."

She swallowed her fear and replied, "yes, Hidan?"

"Why did you put it on?"

"Because... because Kisame suggested I should and... I wanted to."

"You know my god."

"A little..."

"And my god is cruel."

"I could tell from the rituals but -"

"So in exchange for my rosary, you must give me your heart," his hand reached over her left shoulder to lightly touch her breast. She gasped and he spoke again, "you can take the rosary off if you want. I won't stop you."

Her lips moved soundlessly until finally she said firmly, "no. No I won't take it off."

"Then your heart is mine," and he reached into her chest and pulled out her heart. She blinked. She thought it would have been painful, and so she was not prepared for the fact that Hidan had merely pulled out a heart-shaped heart – like the ones she used to draw when she was a kid.

Suddenly tears welled up in her eyes and she covered her face with her hands in shame. In her ear Hidan whispered, "as long as you have my rosary, I'll always be with you," his hand stroked her cheek, "so don't cry for me."

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_Hope you like this story so far._


	2. Chapter 2

Next chapter is the last one.**  


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**Chapter 2: Don't cry for me.**

Konan had never felt so tired before. Her body felt very weak, and she lay still on her bed, her chest rising and falling with every breath she took.

Her makeup streaked in black and blue lines down her face, and continued to do so. She had failed to stop her tears for the past few days. Every single time she thought of Hidan she cried profusely, and every time someone mentioned his name her throat constricted.

Konan shakily pushed herself up from her bed. Nagato was probably wondering if she was alright. She didn't want him to send Pein to check on her.

_'I wonder if he enjoys my tears,'_ she thought as she walked into the bathroom and flinched at her reflection. She grabbed a cloth, turned on the faucet and began to wash her face, _'he always mentions Hidan when I'm around... oh, Hidan...'_

She nearly threw a fit when more tears seeped out of her eyes.

"What's _wrong_ with me!?" she screeched, throwing the cloth at her mirror. It splatted against the glass and slumped down onto the counter top. Konan sat down on the edge of the tub and buried her face in her hands, sobbing loudly.

_'I'm a kunoichi. Kunoichi don't cry this much. Why am I crying? Why? I hardly even _knew_ him!'_

She shook her head vigorously and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. She stood, intending to go to the bathhouse and have a bath. That would calm her – warm baths always did.

_'Warm baths with roses... ah, I feel better already.'_

Konan gave up on washing her face, deciding to finish the job in the bathhouse. She left her room and made her way down the hall, passing by Itachi as she went. They said nothing to each other; Konan was sure he didn't even know he had passed her by.

She turned the corner and bumped right into Kisame's expansive chest. Dazed slightly – he was a very sturdy man – she stepped back and gazed up at him. He stared down at her with an expression similar to horror.

He grabbed her arm before she could make her way around him, "Konan, are you okay? You don't look so good..."

"I don't feel good."

"Maybe you shouldn't have put it on then eh?"

"Put it... ? Oh. Oh right."

Konan placed a hand against her chest, causing the rosary to press against her skin. She clutched it suddenly and whispered fiercely, "I'm not taking it off. You can't make me."

Kisame slowly let her go and backed off so he could look at her better. His eyes were narrowed in caution but his brow was furrowed with worry.

"Konan," he spoke so sternly that it caused Konan to revert back to her usual self, "you aren't being yourself. You're being rather obsessive, if you ask me."

"I'm not obsessed!" she retorted, storming past him. His eyes followed her and he called, "well, you certainly are being a girl!"

Konan had to smile; that was Kisame for you. He made a joke out of everything.

–

"Leave me alone."

"But I can see you aren't well."

"Then you should also see that I want to be alone right now," Konan replied dryly, glaring at Pein's reflection. He shifted his position in the door frame.

"That necklace is damaging you; I can tell. It would be in your best interest to remove it."

"Removing it might kill her. I hope you realize that, leader-sama."

Pein turned his ginger head and Konan submerged herself in the water as he said, "Kisame?"

When Konan burst out of the water Pein was storming out of the bathhouse and Kisame had a nasty looking cut along his cheek. Konan gasped and jumped out of the tub, unaware for the moment of her current nakedness.

"Kisame! Are you alright?"

"Uh... if I don't get a nosebleed, yes."

Immediately Konan blushed and morphed into paper. Kisame backed up a bit and Konan realized that he thought she was going to give him a million paper cuts. She whizzed away from him, toward the back of the bathhouse where the towels were. He visibly relaxed.

Once she had wrapped a towel around her body she walked toward him and blushed lightly. He had looped her cloak over his arm, along with her split tail shirt. He gave her a crooked smile and peeked outside the door.

"No one's around... come on."

She followed closely behind his large form, poking her head out from behind him every few seconds. He stopped at a fork in the halls and looked in both directions; he turned around.

"Uh, your room was...?"

"This way," she replied, turning to the left. He followed her and handed her her clothes once she was inside the room.

"Thanks."

"No problem. By the way, the rosary... is kind of leaving some nasty white marks on your skin."

He turned swiftly and headed down the hall before she could ask him what he meant.

Konan closed the door and looked down at her chest, astonished to find that there were white marks on her chest where the rosary was lying against it.

_'… I hadn't even taken it off when I bathed. Something _is_ wrong with me.'_

She sighed and got dressed, muttering under her breath the whole while. She hated how Pein flocked over her like a hawk, she liked how Kisame was suddenly so kind to her, she didn't like that Itachi ignored her and Deidara _really_ needed to stop flirting with her or he was going to get hemorrhaged by Pein.

Konan jolted into a standing position, _'when did I start thinking about all of this?'_

"Recently. Ever since that, actually. Seriously, Konan, what did you expect?"

Konan stared at Hidan, who reclined like an angel on her bed, staring at her with keen amethyst eyes. Her cheeks warmed under his gaze and secretly she wondered when she had begun developing feelings for the angelic sadist.

His lips curled up from a frown to a knowing smirk and he gently rubbed his thumb over the red heart in his hand. Konan gasped and brought her hands to her chest – her heart felt as though it was being caressed.

"You can't freaking hide anything from me, Konan-chan. Your heart is mine, remember? No thought of yours is secret from _me_," he informed her. His gaze stayed focused on her heart for a moment longer before he raised his eyes to hers, "angelic? Do I really look angelic?" his face fell, "I'm anything _but_ an angel, Konan."

Her lips moved soundlessly until she finally blurted out, "then your wings -! Where did your wings -?"

He glanced over his shoulder and a hummingbird soft wing twitched its longest feathers, "so you can see them, huh? Think about it, Konan. What am I?"

"A... human...?"

"... you know more about me than that."

"You're immortal."

"Where am I?"

"In a hole."

"So what's the only alternative way that I can freaking travel around?"

"... by flying?"

He stood in front of her suddenly, his form still lying on the bed. Konan's eyes widened as she watched the reclining form continue to move: it looked down at her heart again.

She lifted lachrymose amber eyes to look at the Hidan in front of her. He passed the misty hand that was not in possession of her heart over the rosary, "no, Konan, no. You're not thinking hard enough. Yes, I'm immortal. No, I'm not in a hole. No, I don't travel around by flying," he sighed and cupped her cheek in his hand, "do I have to tell you everything?"

She started shaking her head, tears slipping out of her eyes, "no.... no..."

"But you don't frikkin' get it."

"I'm confused!"

"'Course you're confused. Let me try again: what am I?"

"I-Immortal."

"Where am I _right now_?"

"Standing in front of me," she replied, tilting her head at him, her tears forgotten for now.

"So how do you think I flipping got here in the first place?"

Konan's lower lip quivered as she thought about him. He was in her thoughts all the time. In her mind's eye she often saw him with white wings, pristine features, a calm expression and the swearing habit was all but gone. Her eyes widened at this realization.

"You're here because I... because I... I..." she threw a small fit and dashed past him, throwing herself onto her bed in despair. Into her pillow she screamed her answer but to him it would only sound like a muffled protest.

His weight settled on the edge of her bed and his hand rubbed over her back – it was no loving gesture, because Hidan could not love – he was only trying to be kind.

"What the hell are you crying about Konan?"

She spoke her answer secretly because he would hear it anyway, _"Because I'm falling in love with you, and you're not here. Is that _not_ obvious to you?"_

His hand lifted from her back and Konan felt a brush against her heart.

"I only have one true love, Konan, and that is my god. You know that."

"_But I want you. I want you to love me back."_

She heard him laugh lightly. It wasn't a crazy, sadistic laugh, but a gentle laugh that imitated the sound of a brook. She lifted her head to see him fading away.

"I have to learn how to love someone else, Konan. I have to be frikkin' taught. And," he gestured at the rosary, "I have to get away from that, and to get away from that I need to learn how to love."

Konan snapped out her arm to try and touch his face but her fingers disturbed the smoke instead. All that remained was a lingering echo, "don't cry for me."

Despite his request, she cried profusely anyway.

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Konan blinked at Pein, swallowing a lump in her throat. Itachi stared blankly at Tobi who stood next to Pein, his chest rising and falling with his breaths.

"Tobi couldn't save him... Tobi... Tobi failed," he hung his head, "Tobi is sorry, very sorry."

"Tobi. Shut up," Kisame growled, his head in his hands. Zetsu swayed out of the room, arguing in a low voice with himself about whether or not to go and see if there was anything left in the area. Tobi leaned on his knuckles against the table; Konan sensed fury wafting off of him.

"Sasuke got away," he stated simply, his masked face turning to Itachi before he exited the room after Zetsu. Pein sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"... what?"

He nearly glared at Konan and she immediately recoiled. He sighed again, "Konan. Deidara is dead. He blew himself up trying to get rid of Sasuke..." his words trailed off.

Konan's hands came up to cover her face and she sobbed lightly into her hands. A hand rested tentatively on her shoulder; she reached up and covered the hand with her own. The amount of rough skin she felt told her that Kisame was the one attempting to comfort her.

A few minutes later into her sobbing two fingers trailed along her shoulders. She finally lifted her head from her hand and looked over her shoulder to see that Itachi was leaving the room. She smiled through her tears at Kisame and rose, "thank you."

He nodded at her and stood as well. He stared at her for a moment before leaving the room, and, after exchanging a look with Pein, Konan trailed after him.

_'I can't believe it. First Sasori, then Hidan and Kakuzu, now Deidara... who... who's next?'_

Konan's answer came next month.

Since Tobi – or rather, Madara – had informed Pein and Konan that they would be the ones going after the nine-tails Itachi had tried to convince Konan to take no part in it.

"It's not because it's my old village, Konan-san. Madara is trying to recreate what happened fifteen years ago, and there is no Shodai Hokage to deal with it. No one else could control the Bijuu like he could; nobody."

Konan shook her head and clutched at Hidan's rosary, "Itachi-san, I can't – I just can't. I have to go along with this."

"You don't have to, seriously. You don't have to follow Pein around like a dog all the time."

She jumped up and nearly knocked Itachi over. Her voice came out soft and timid, "Hi-dan..?"

He smiled at her, "yes, Konan?"

She blinked her eyes rapidly, "I thought you could only... when I... now I... not now I..."

"As long as there's someone around who will eventually think of me, I can frikkin' appear to them. Itachi can't see me though. Did you know he thinks about us sometimes?"

"Us?" she glanced at Itachi while asking this to see that he had activated his Sharingan and was trying futilely to find the source with which she spoke.

"Yeah. Like Deidara, Kakuzu, Sasori... he thinks of all of us. He freaking _cares _Konan. He wonders that if he had the ability to take on Madara himself _we_ may have been saved from our fates."

"He is strong enough!"

"He's not, Konan. He's sick."

"But if he could have saved you -" she fumed until Hidan shifted in front of her. Itachi jumped back and reached out a hand, his eyes inspecting the air in front of Konan.

"_Did he feel that?"_

"Yes, he did. He knows that there's something here. Judging by how he's acting, he thinks it's hostile toward you."

Konan followed Hidan's amethyst gaze to see that Itachi had taken on a slightly defensive stance next to her, eyes still roving.

"Itachi, it's... all right. I'm not in danger," he didn't look convinced so she lifted the rosary out from under her cloak. He immediately calmed and flounced down on the couch. Konan continued her conversation with Hidan in a low voice, "but if he could have saved you..."

"Konan, listen. He had to make a choice here. Trying to save us may have resulted in him getting ganged up on by us, he may have been forced to kill us off, Pein may have ignored him, etcetera, etcetera. There's only so much one weak little Itachi can do. We all had our own agendas to fulfill... he frikkin' has his. All I'm saying is that we died for no reason at all. Honestly. For most of us, the Akatsuki is meaningless, seriously."

Then he sifted away with a breeze. Konan whirled around to see that Itachi had opened the window.

"It's nice outside," he muttered.

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Hope you like it so far.


	3. Chapter 3

Final installment of "Let me Go". Sqequl will be called "Bring me Back".

A tragic ending to this one...

Somewhat.

Music: "To Zanarkand" Final Fantasy OST (I love this song) and "Our Farewell" by Within Temptation.

Stories to come are: Agency, Today's Moment, Strawberries & Cream (about damn time for this sequel too) and Generation of Mist.

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**Chapter 3: Let me go.**

".... I have some bad news."

Everyone looked up at Zetsu, who had just returned from observing the fight between Itachi and Sasuke. Konan's breath caught in her throat at the expression on Zetsu's face; it did not bode well.

_'Please, don't tell me -'_

"Itachi's dead."

Silence followed the statement. Konan felt Pein's gaze on her and she knew that he expected her to start crying. She swallowed her tears and rose from the couch instead.

"He's really dead?"

"... yes. I was sure he was going to win too, _Konan-san."_

She merely nodded her head and excused herself, walking blindly down the hall toward someplace other than the room that Pein resided in.

Itachi? Dead?

It couldn't be.

But Itachi was dead.

_'I can't believe that's true! It can't be, it -'_

"Oh but it frikkin' is, angel."

She jerked her head up, unaware that she had lowered it in the first place. However, she didn't see Hidan. Panicked, she quickly looked around, searching for him with tired eyes. He was nowhere to be seen.

She fled.

Down the hall she went, down the twisting corridors, not knowing what her objective was or where she was going or even where she hoped to end up.

Her destination ended up being Itachi's room, where she flung herself onto the bed and cried hopelessly for a face that would never return.

Hidan watched her at a distance.

--

She knew that Pein – or rather Nagato – didn't like how she avoided him, or how she gripped the rosary tightly in her hand every time he walked by. She even muttered random phrases pertaining to some kind of god under her breath, like she was praying.

Konan was becoming more and more like Hidan in Itachi's absence.

_'I don't care. I don't care anymore. Everyone I cared about is gone. Hidan's gone. Itachi's gone. Deidara's gone. I don't care anymore.'_

"But you should care, Konan. Seriously."

Konan lifted her tired head to look up at Hidan, the bags under her eyes amplifying the bright color of her amber eyes. Hidan frowned down at her, and she was startled. It was the first time she had really ever seen him frown.

"I'm sure you'd be this way too if everyone important to you went and died on you."

"Nagato's still alive, isn't he? Oy, don't look so surprised that I know his name. I can frikkin' read your thoughts, remember?"

She looked down in embarrassment of her forgetfulness. Hidan's partially permeable hand lifted her face to him again.

"If you're gonna' be like this you should seriously consider letting me go."

She blinked; "what?"

"You heard me."

"B – but I -"

"But you what? You're getting screwed over by keeping me here. You're talking like me. Walking like me. Thinking like me. You're becoming _me,_" he stared blazingly at her for a moment then continued, "that is not cool, seriously. This isn't the Konan I remember meeting. This is some twisted mix of me and you."

At his mention of "me and you" Konan's heart skipped a beat. Me and you. You and I. She could see that happening, but she tried not to think of it too much. When Hidan's eyes narrowed she inwardly groaned; she'd thought about it too much.

She expected him to say something but maybe that's why he didn't. Instead he turned sharply, the longer feathers of his wings brushing against her face. He walked briskly out of the room. Startled, Konan chased after him, calling his name, "Hidan?"

She followed him down the hall, almost running after him since he was moving so quickly. She knew he could sense her panic as she frantically called after him, "Hidan? Hidan!"

They passed by Pein and the others. Kisame almost gave chase to Konan but settled back down when her heard her almost scream, "Hidan!"

--

Kisame could tell that Nagato was furious through the actions of the god-realm Pein.

"Cool your hot head, Nagato."

All the Pein's eyes snapped onto him. Though he felt slightly unnerved, Kisame didn't waver, "just let her be."

"She's chasing nothing," the god-realm snapped, rising. Kisame rose too, his stance challenging. It was times like these that Kisame was grateful he was much taller than the leader of the Akatsuki.

"She's chasing Hidan. Leave her alone. Let her figure this all out on her own."

Pein was about to speak but Kisame retaliated first, "she's not as weak as she used to be! She's not a little girl anymore!"

"How would you know that!?"

"I can tell by the way you talk about her and her abilities, Leader-sama, that you think she's a little girl that needs protection. She's a fucking _kunoichi_. She doesn't _need_ protection anymore."

Pein was shocked to silence by Kisame's word slip up, but at the moment the shark nin didn't notice. The only person that had ever treated Konan like she was weak was the man that had known her the longest. Even Hidan had spoken highly of Konan – though he'd known nothing of her abilities.

Kisame sighed loudly and fell back against the couch. He missed that crazy loud-mouth. He remembered that day – that fateful day – that Hidan had actually spoken to him about Konan. It was after they had met for the first time, and was the last time they would see each other.

It was the day that Hidan was sent out on his mission with Kakuzu to get the Two tails.

--

_The sun was bright outside, glaring down on Kisame's skin. He stalked inside after feeling like he was becoming fried fish._

_He spotted Kakuzu lounging against the large doorway that led into the kitchen, talking idly with Deidara about his art. Of all the members in the Akatsuki, Kakuzu was the only one who showed a keen interest in the explosives expert's work, so Deidara took it upon himself to tell Kakuzu every little detail that went into the clay figurines. Surprisingly to the others, Kakuzu tolerated this very well._

_Then again, he manged to tolerate Hidan, even if only for a short amount of time._

_'Speaking of Hidan... where is that loud mouth? Shouldn't he be getting ready to leave soon?'_

_Kisame wandered up the long flight of stairs to the level where their rooms were. If he remembered correctly Hidan's room was down the eight hallway to his right after he turned to his left when he got off the stairs. He walked down the hallway and passed by Itachi. The Uchiha stopped._

"_Kisame... do you have my pills on you?"_

_The shark nin blinked at him before nodding, "ah, yeah," and reaching into the hidden pocket in his cloak to retrieve the pills. He handed the bottle to Itachi, "here."_

"_Thank you," and then off down the hall Itachi went at a brisk pace. Kisame frowned after him before continuing on his quest._

_'Huh, now which room – when did he leave his door open?' Kisame wondered. The door to Hidan's room looked like it had been flung open, and currently the immortal was sitting at the window, rigid and void of motion. Kisame felt a bit apprehensive at Hidan's sudden passiveness._

_He walked into the room and Hidan turned his head ever so slightly to acknowledge his presence. He stood next to the immortal and looked out the window to see if he could see what Hidan was looking at._

"_She's intriguing, you know," he said suddenly, causing Kisame to look down at him._

"_Konan, I mean."_

_Kisame smiled, "yeah she is. Got a pretty neat ability, that girl."_

"_Sure does."_

_Kisame gazed at Hidan curiously, "what are you thinking about?"_

_Hidan smirked, "I know what you're thinking."_

"_And what would I be thinking then, wise ass?"_

"_You think I have a crush on Konan," Hidan replied triumphantly before adding, "old fart."_

_Kisame laughed heartily at Hidan's words, "alright, alright. You got me."_

"_Well, I hate to put a damper on your spirits, but I don't have a crush on her. She's just... intriguing."_

_Kisame leaned against the window sill, watching Konan do a bit of training in the rain. He briefly wondered how she managed to make the soggy paper fly in the rain._

"_What about her is intriguing, Hidan? I'm just curious because you've never shown such interest in anybody before."_

_Hidan 'hm'ed' softly._

"_Her ability. Who else can frikkin' control paper? And those eyes of hers. Molten rock I'd say," he shrugged, "and how does she manage to tolerate our bastard of a leader?"_

_At this Kisame chuckled, "well, she's known him since they were young... they traveled together too, went through a lot... you know. The whole deal."_

_Hidan 'hm'ed' again. Kisame stared down at him, 'what's going through that pretty head of yours, Hidan? Just what are you thinking?'_

_The immortal suddenly stood and stretched. For all his being six inches shorter than Kisame, Hidan was a big man. Sometimes Kisame wondered just how Hidan managed to be so flexible._

"_Well, it's time for me to go I guess. Aw, damn. I have to follow Kakuzu then... damn it..." Hidan walked toward the door, muttering something about Kakuzu being a bastard money-maker. Kisame quirked an eyebrow at the immortal's back before glancing back out the window. Konan was gone._

_When he was about to make his way to the door he found that Hidan had whirled and was pointing a finger at him. Kisame blinked._

"_That Konan, she has potential. She's a tough girl, I'd say. Kinda' sad the fucking bastard leader-sama keeps her locked up in here all the time. She's a like a bird, ya know? Gotta' let her go some time."_

_Then he was gone, out of the room and down the hall before Kisame could so much as think of a reply to Hidan's statement._

_--_

Kisame groaned.

_'Curse it all, you idiot. You just had to get yourself killed didn't you?'_

_--_

"_Hiiidaaaan!"_

She screamed after him, tears flying down her face, unable to stay on her face as she dashed after Hidan's quickly moving ghost. She knew that people around her had no idea why she was charging after a specter, but she didn't care.

All that mattered to her was the fact that Hidan was leaving, and she wasn't going to let him go that easily.

She realized too late that Hidan had led her straight to a cliff. She stopped at the edge and almost fell forward if Hidan's ghost hadn't managed to somehow pull her back. She stumbled and fell to the ground, her eyes shut tightly. Konan rose shakily to her feet.

She glared at the ghost in front of her and demanded, "what do you expect me to do? And what in the world did you come here for?"

"Let me go," he said simply, sweeping his arm out to the horizon beyond the cliff. The sun was just beginning to rise and Konan blinked. It must have been three in the morning.

She gasped when she understood the meaning of his words and she instantly wrapped her hand around the rosary, "no way I -!"

"Let me go."

Her lips started quivering and he spoke again, "take it off, and throw it away. Let me go."

Konan shook her head vigorously from side to side, "no. No I want you stay. I don't want you to leave me."

"Let me go."

"I don't want you to leave me!"

He held her heart out to her, a small pulsating red glow in his large hand, "do you want this back? Without it, you can't love can you?"

Konan began choking on her sobs as she stared with tear-filled eyes at the lonely heart in his hand. It was calling out to her almost; she could see small wings on it that were gray and wilted. She half-gasped before coughing sporadically after swallowing a sob and air at the same time.

The heart was dying.

Like a flower it was wilting.

Because of Hidan, her ability to love was also going away.

It made her wonder exactly what Hidan's heart looked like. Was his heart a dull gray with wilted wings?

"No... my heart looks worse."

"If you show me I'll let you go," she offered too quickly, knowing that he would but for the moment not caring. He stared hard at her, amethyst eyes penetrating.

"Promise me. Promise me you'll fucking let me go and take this back before it dies too."

She had no choice then – the urge to see his heart was too strong, "I promise."

He reached into his chest and pulled his own heart out, and held it next to her own, cupping his two large hands around the glowing masses.

Konan stared in despair at the sight of Hidan's heart.

Its wings were stripped of almost all their feathers; only a few remained. One dropped off and fluttered helplessly to the ground. The heart was not read, but almost gray; a very dead color, no life at all. There were cracks at the top of it, and it was chipping at the bottom and falling away.

A very strange phenomenon occurred then.

Konan's heart flit into the air before skipping, it seemed, over to Hidan's near dead heart. There were extensions flowing from out of the bottom of Konan's bright red heart, two of them, like tails. She noted with some awe that they were like arms as they wrapped around Hidan's faded heart. In response the near dead heart wrapped its tails around Konan's.

She felt an enormous amount of warmth flood her as the hearts nuzzled together, like two living beings.

A clear drop of liquid was illuminated by the sun before it splashed onto the hearts. Konan felt a trickle of water flow over hers and she quickly looked up at Hidan's face.

He was crying.

"Konan, please."

She didn't hesitate.

She almost ripped the rosary off her neck in her haste to remove it, and at once felt a searing pain shoot through her body. She heard small 'eeking' protests and looked the hearts.

Konan wailed uncontrollably as Hidan separated them, their tails wrapping painfully around each other, trying and failing to stay together. Konan's loud sobs added to theirs and she was about to throw the rosary when she paused. She looked at the hearts as they 'eeked' and screeched and tried to hold onto each other. She remembered the warmth.

Konan didn't want it to end this way. She wanted Hidan's heart to learn to love again.

So she held the rosary tightly in one hand, and reached up with her other to take her flower out of her hair. From the flower she created a paper dove – a dove that would be able to support the weight of the rosary.

It cooed softly in her hands as she walked to the edge of the cliff, holding back her sobs. She wrapped the rosary around it, closed her eyes and threw it into the air.

When she opened her eyes again the dove was almost a silhouette against the sun, the rosary glinting in the light.

She looked to her right to see that Hidan's tears had stopped, and that the little hearts had stopped their screaming. For the moment her sobs resided to whimpers as Hidan stepped toward her.

His hand passed through her cloak, through her skin until finally she felt like love had been returned to her.

Hidan removed his hand, and stroked her cheek in an almost loving way, _"__Ise omorfi. _I _agape_ you."

"What? What are you saying? What does that mean? _Hidan!?_" Konan shrieked when he began to fade away. He smiled gently at her, "you're beautiful, Konan. For all eternity I'll..."

His final words were lost away on the wind and Konan took several shuddering breaths before she collapsed on the ground and screamed and cried until her throat was raw.

As Konan lay there wailing she understood why Hidan had been unable to love.

It was because, though all along he was alive, his heart had always been dead.

* * *

The words that Hidan speaks are Greek (the italicized ones). I like my little heart images; I draw them sometimes.

Now... I wonder what Hidan was going to say?


End file.
